Jennifer Staubach Gates rescues choking diner at restaurant

Dallas City Council member Jennifer Staubach Gates may have saved an elderly restaurant patron’s life by administering first aid Monday night.

Gates, a registered nurse, was eating dinner with her husband and some friends at The Mercury, at Preston Road and Forest Lane, when a waiter rushed by in search of a medical professional.

A diner was choking, the waiter said.

“They were doing the Heimlich. He appeared unconscious,” Gates said Wednesday.

The man was foaming at the mouth, and when Gates checked for a pulse, she found none.

“I thought he was dead,” she said. “I thought he was gone. I thought he’d had a heart attack … and that I wasn’t going to get him back. His eyes were rolled back. It was bad.”

With the man on the ground, she started administering chest compressions, as one does when performing CPR. After two or three minutes, she said, he regained consciousness and regurgitated.

Paramedics arrived a short time later and took the man to a hospital. He did not appear to know who she was, she said, even though she told the paramedics that she was on the City Council.

The man was believed to be in his 80s. Gates said she called The Mercury on Tuesday and was told he was doing well.

A relative of the man said in an interview Wednesday that the family was thankful that Gates stepped in. He declined to comment further and asked that he not be identified by name.

Gates, the daughter of Roger Staubach, worked as a hospital nurse more than 20 years ago. More recently, she’s served as a substitute school nurse. But she said she can’t remember the last time she had a refresher course in CPR, and that she never performed it on anyone before Monday.

“It’s something you never forget,” she said. “I just did what I’ve been trained to do.”

Reza Nejad, general manager of the restaurant, said all the talk there has been about the council member’s heroics.

“She really did save his life,” he said. “Nobody could help him … but after she did the CPR, the gentleman took a few minutes to open his eyes and start sitting up.”

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